An ostomy is a medical appliance that is used to collect body waste output following removal of a portion of a patient's intestine. Depending on the area of the intestinal removal, the name of the appliance may vary, such as colostomy, ileostomy and urostomy.
Generally speaking, an ostomy appliance is an external collection reservoir, usually in the form of a collapsible or expandable bag. Through a surgical procedure, an opening is formed in a patient's abdomen, through which a connection to intestine is made with a flange. The ostomy appliance is then attached, often using an adhesive ring or wafer applied to the skin of the abdomen. Waste and products from the patient's intestine are then redirected into the ostomy appliance, where it is collected until the bag is discarded and replaced with an empty bag. There are a number of variations of ostomy bags in use today, some of which are meant for longer term wear and can be emptied (reducing the number of times the adhesive must be removed from the skin), and some of which are meant for shorter term wear (bags are filled, removed, sealed, discarded and a new bag is attached).
Ostomy appliances have been improved over the years, and they are quite effective. Their form and shape have been refined such that it is unlikely that an observer would notice that a patient is wearing an ostomy appliance, which allows many ostomy patients to live a normal lifestyle with proper attention and maintenance to the appliance.